Brent Libraries Arts and Heritage

Another area of Brent Council that I have been greatly concerned in has been Libraries, Arts and Heritage.  I have already done lots of posts on our Libraries Transformation Project.  Anyone who doubts its success can look up my previous posts on the increased visit and loan figures, the improved home library service, the improved outreach services, improved homework clubs, refurbishments at Ealing Road and Kilburn libraries, improved customer satisfaction and so on.

I want to use this post to talk about other parts of the department.  I do regret that I was not still the lead during the restructuring of the Museum and Archive service.  This will get a new improved home as part of the Willesden Library rebuild.  Brent is increasingly unusual in deciding to maintain its musuem service (where other authorities are cutting theirs) and in maintaining and enhancing the archive service.

The part where I feel I had a bigger impact was on the Arts side.  In particular, during my time as lead member I was successful in fighting off attempts to cancel the Tricycle Theatre grant, both during the passage of the Arts and Festivals report in 2011 and the attempt alluded to by Martin Francis in 2013.  Aside from the good work that the Tricycle does with the grant in helping excluded young people, the Tricycle Theatre is vital to the economic success of Kilburn High Road.  I am also glad that I helped the Tricycle's financial planning by shifting their grant from a one year cycle to (eventually) a three year cycle.

Defending arts spending remains an uphill struggle since many people still see the Arts as an "add on" that can be dispensed with at will.  I think this is a very short sighted view, which ignores the role of the arts in bringing in tourism, wider economic benefits and just making Brent a nicer place to live.  I am happy to say that the national Labour leadership seem to agree with me. 

I wish it had been viable to do more in other directions, but inevitably resources were limited.   However, I did my best to support the importance of the visual arts.   The LTP also has an often neglected role in promoting the arts.  Some in the sector are suspicious of this, seeing it as a zero sum game where arts spend takes away from libraries.  I think the two can reinforce each other.  The most obvious area is in encouraging writers (Writing is one of the Arts, after all).  However the events in Brent Dance month, now made easier by seven day opening of Brent libraries and increased suitability of venues, helps dance groups by giving them venues, and can draw people into libraries who might not generally use them.  One of my regrets in this area is that we did not find a way to use public buildings as hanging space more comprehensively, although I was pleased we did manage to create Brent's first artist in residence schemes for sculpture and poetry.

On the. Ultralight side, I should also mention our role as an Olympic Borough.  To be frank my main concern was in case there was a screw up, which thankfully was not the case. It all went quite smoothly.